“Give us this day our daily bread.” (Matthew 6:11). When the Israelites were wandering in the desert and being fed miraculously with Manna from Heaven, they were told to only take what they needed for that day. Those who disobeyed and took more than they needed would find on the next day that their secret stash of extra Manna had rotted and filled with worms. What’s wrong with saving a little extra? It all comes down to a lack of faith. Sure, God gave them Manna today and maybe He even gave them Manna yesterday, but what about tomorrow. What if the Manna doesn’t come, or it comes but we slept in and there was none left for us, or we got some, but then some bully stole ours before we could eat it? Wouldn’t it be better to plan ahead and carve out for ourselves a little independence so we don’t have to put so much trust in God? In the same chapter that Jesus talks about pleading with the Father to “give us this day our daily bread,” He also teaches that we should “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” (Matthew 6:34). It is true that the evil of today is sufficiently large enough of a problem that we don’t need to be adding tomorrow’s problems onto our plate today. It is also true that no matter how “sufficient” today’s evil is, the grace of our Savior Jesus Christ is all the more sufficient to enable us to deal with today’s evil. And when we get to tomorrow and that day’s evil rears its ugly head, Christ’s grace is going to be sufficient for that evil too. Part of us wants so badly to solve not only today’s evil but all of the future evils coming down the pipeline. We want so badly to not only overcome today’s temptation, but all temptation once and for all. We want today to be the very last time we feel a craving for our addiction, or get into an argument with our spouse, or feel anxiety as we walk into a meeting. We want to stockpile so much Manna that we will never, ever be hungry ever again. We don’t want to have to pray today for our daily bread, and tomorrow for our daily bread, and on and on. We don’t want to have to count to ten so we don’t lose our temper today only to have to count to ten again tomorrow. God essentially asks us to do a trust fall with Him every single day of our lives. “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Hebrews 10:31). It is a fearful thing indeed but Christ will catch us every single time. He will give us this day His grace which is sufficient for today’s evil, and when we have no choice but to fall into the hands of a living God tomorrow, He will give us our daily bread tomorrow, and every day for the rest of eternity.
